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| Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology | ||||
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| Compilation album by Big Dipper | ||||
| Released | March 18, 2008 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, indie rock, jangle pop | |||
| Label | Merge Records | |||
| Big Dipper chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10 link |
Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology is a 3-disc release by Boston indie rock band Big Dipper, released March 18, 2008 by Merge Records. The set contains the band's debut EP, Boo-Boo , and their first two full-length albums, Heavens and Craps . Supercluster also contains various bonus tracks and 15 songs which were recorded after their final album, Slam .
Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, some indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.
Big Dipper are an American indie rock band who formed in Boston in 1985 by former members of Volcano Suns and the Embarrassment. They released four studio albums between 1987 and 1990, before splitting up. The band reunited in 2008. They were described in a New York Times article as "musical contortionists: they love to toy with extremes, juxtaposing ferocious guitar noise with celestial vocal harmonies or planting a delicate melody in jagged rhythm".
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.
The album's liner notes were written by Tom Scharpling of Scharpling and Wurster.
Tom Scharpling is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet radio call-in comedy program The Best Show with Tom Scharpling, the voice of Greg Universe in the animated series Steven Universe and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show Monk.
The song "Winsor Dam" was covered by Gigolo Aunts on the "Mrs. Washington" single, and included on that band's Where I Find My Heaven compilation album.
Gigolo Aunts are an American power pop band, who were formed in 1981.
"Mrs. Washington" is a song written and performed by Gigolo Aunts and the title song from their 1993 and 1994 singles. The song also appears on the album, Flippin' Out. The August 1993 7" single includes a cover of "Serious Drugs", a 1992 single by BMX Bandits later included on their 1993 album, "Life Goes On". That 1993 single was the first in a series of five releases by various bands on Fire Records under the Spawning Monsters moniker. The April 1994 7" single and CD single include a cover of "Ask", a 1986 single by the Smiths that later appeared on their 1987 albums, "Louder Than Bombs" (US) and "The World Won't Listen" (UK). The 12" single includes a cover of "Can You Get to That" by Funkadelic, a song from their 1971 album, "Maggot Brain". Both the 12" single and the CD single include a cover of "Winsor Dam", a 1991 recording by Big Dipper that did not receive its formal release until the 2008 compilation album, Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology. Note that while both the 12" single and CD single attribute the writing credits for "Winsor Dam" to Goffrier/Oliphant/Michener/Wallik, other sources identify the writer of the song as Big Dipper guitarist, Gary Waleik. The 1994 single entered the UK singles charts on April 23, 1994, spending only one week there. The cover art of the 1994 7" single, 12" single, and CD single features Chloë Sevigny. The photo appears to be from the same session as the photo on the cover of the Full-On Bloom EP.
Where I Find My Heaven is a compilation album by Gigolo Aunts released in the UK, first on Nectar Masters (1997), and then on Fire Records (1998). The album collects a number of singles and b-sides from 1993 through 1995. The album includes a cover of "Winsor Dam", a 1991 recording by Big Dipper that did not receive its formal release until the 2008 compilation album Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology.
